


We'll Never Be Those Kids Again

by agalaxyofglitter



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Child Abuse, Drug Use, Minor Harry Hook/Uma, is that.....is that how i tag that, yeh they're normal here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-06-05 23:44:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15181937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agalaxyofglitter/pseuds/agalaxyofglitter
Summary: Gil shook his head, incredulously, “I know this is really bad to say or whatever but, I wish my dad cared that much.”Uma picked at the corner of her shirt, “She only got mad ‘cause I called her out on her shit. She wouldn't have cared otherwise.”“Y’know. Sometimes, I think she's genuinely trying to look out for you, make sure you don't end up like her. She had you at sixteen in a poor neighborhood full of drugs and crime. I'm sure that's not what she would have wanted for a child,”Yeah I guess that explains it lmao ¯\_(ツ)_/¯





	1. Hold Me and You'll Stay Young

**Author's Note:**

> I made Gil black here. Why? Because I could it's an AU. This can stand alone even though it feels kind of...off. I'm not sure if I'll continue!! Looking at my other project...uhm. Yeah so I love these three A Lot and I wanted to write something kinda sad so here you go. Again! Warning for abuse! Physical abuse, emotional abuse, and some sexual abuse. Plus neglect and stuff.

The flimsy screen door creaked as Uma tried to open it as quietly as possible. She held her back against it to keep it open and fumbled with the keys around her neck. Uma turned the rusted handle once the lock and clicked and held one hand on the screen door so it wouldn't slam closed. It was practically pitch black in her living room except for the pale moonlight peeking its way between the heavy, blackout curtains. Uma scanned the kitchen as well and mentally sighed once she was assured the coast was clear. She turned back around to close and lock the front door and quickly tiptoed to the back of the house. Her bedroom door was cracked slightly, it was the way she had left it thankfully. Uma slid through, expecting to finally collapse on her bed after a long night. What she wasn't expecting was a figure sitting straight up on her bed, arms crossed. Uma’s hand flew to the light switch revealing her angry mother. Uma sighed, readying herself for the lecture.  
“Where were you?”  
Uma stayed silent.  
“Did you hear me? Where were you and why the hell are you coming back at two o’clock in the morning?”  
“I was with friends, Mom.”  
“What friends?” Ursula stood up and walked towards her daughter, “What friends were you out with at two in the morning, huh? Do you know how long I waited here, worried sick, waiting for you to come back? Do you know-” Ursula stopped about a foot away from Uma, eyebrows knitting. She closed the distance between them in about a second and roughly grabbed the collar of her daughter’s jacket. She sniffed it and stood back, eyes widening. “Now I know good and well that's not weed I smell on you. Because I know that my daughter was not out until two am smoking weed with her 'friends’.”  
Anger lashed up inside of Uma but she kept her mouth closed.  
“Answer me, Uma. Tell me what you were doing out there. Tell me who you were with and tell me what you were doing right now or I swear to God-”  
“I was with Harry and Gil. I was with them.” Uma supplied quickly, trying to lessen her chances of getting a beating.  
Ursula leaned in close to study her daughter's face. “And you were smoking weed, weren't you?” She let go of her roughly and shoved a finger in her face. “You're good for nothing, you know that? I do the best I can to provide for you while hustling my ass off running a restaurant. I don't know whose daughter you think you are but you can go right back where you came from 'cause-”  
This time, Uma couldn't keep her anger inside and it came bubbling out, “I smoked weed! I smoked a single blunt with friends! I don't know why you're so upset with me, especially since you’ve smoked worse.” Ursula's eyes narrowed and her hand went up and flying across her daughter's face. The silence in the area was thick. Uma's scrunched her eyes shut to keep tears from falling as the stinging sensation subsided.  
“You have something else to say to me?” Ursula whispered. Uma shook her head, eyes still closed. “Good. Now get in bed or you’ll really be in pain.” Uma waited until her mother had roughly pushed past her and exited the room. She held her hand to her face where she could still feel her mother's hand and stood like that for a while. All she could feel was anger.  
The next morning, Uma got up earlier than usual to avoid seeing her mother's face. She got dressed, grabbed the book bag with unfinished homework and a beaten up textbook out of the corner of her room and practically ran to the bus stop. She was almost a whole hour early so she rested her back against the sign and slid down to the ground. Uma grabbed her phone out of her back pocket and opened Instagram to mindlessly scroll through her feed. Her eyes glazed over until she saw a familiar face and they snapped back in focus. A pale girl with blonde hair smiled up from Uma's phone screen. The only indicator of who it was, was the faded purple dye at the ends of her hair. Uma face contorted into a grimace as she clicked the picture to see the tagged people. Which led her over to her former friend Mal’s Instagram page. There were only twenty or so posts but she had over half a million followers. Scrolling back to the beginning of her Instagram, one could see the rapid and sudden change she went through. The most recent photo of her and her boyfriend, Ben. They smiled happily at each other, Mal almost unrecognizable. Uma rolled her eyes, she didn’t know why she tortured herself like this. Nothing would change no matter how menacingly she looked at her phone screen. It was just that, every time she saw them; Mal, Evie, Jay or Carlos, she was reminded of how she wasn't wanted. There was an initiative put into place by Ben and his family to take four kids from an underprivileged area and to give them a chance at one of the best high schools in the state. Four kids from her area code would be able to get an education that most people could only dream of. And it looks like Uma had to keep on dreaming. It was hard not to take it personally. They chose kids who were “acceptable”, kids who never had to worry about the real dangers of the neighborhood they lived in. They certainly weren't going to choose the bright-eyed black girl with a crack smoking whore of a mother. Uma backed out of the pages, trying not to let the anger get to her this morning. Her head fell against the back of the pole and she closed her eyes, trying to block all thoughts from her mind. Before long, she felt a tapping on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to look up and see two of her closest friends staring down at her. She smiled gratefully back up at them.  
“Why are you here so early?” Harry said, sliding down to sit next to her.  
Uma raised an eyebrow, “Well. I got caught by my mom last night.”  
Harry hissed through his teeth, “Damn.”  
Gil sat down on Uma's opposite side, legs stretched out, “She beat you?”  
“Nah, not this time. She did slap me across the face, though.”  
“Bitch slap or pimp slap?” Harry asked.  
“Bitch slap.”  
Gil shook his head, incredulously, “I know this is really bad to say or whatever but, I wish my dad cared that much.”  
Uma picked at the corner of her shirt, “She only got mad ‘cause I called her out on her shit. She wouldn't have cared otherwise.”  
“Y’know. Sometimes, I think she's genuinely trying to look out for you, make sure you don't end up like her. She had you at sixteen in a poor neighborhood pumped full of drugs and crime. I'm sure that's not what she would have wanted for a child,” Gil said.  
Uma raised an eyebrow and turned to share a look with Harry. His expression matched her’s and he let out a chuckle, “Or she could just be a bitch?” Uma laughed.  
“I was just saying that could be a possibility,” Gil mumbled over the laughter. The trio chatted some more about any and everything before the school bus came to a screeching stop in front of them. They got on, walked all the way to the back and sat down, never breaking their conversation. Uma passed the seats where Mal and Evie used to sit together, eyes wavering a bit longer than necessary after her Instagram stalking that morning. She was feeling nostalgic, so what.  
“So, you're saying that the first time you've ever had a Cheez-It, trademarked, was when you were thirteen years old.”  
“Yeah, it’s not available in Scotland so, yeah. The first time I’ve ever had Cheez-Its, trademarked, ever touch my virgin lips was when I was thirteen years old and I was living here. Now I eat them pretty much religiously. I mean, it's the only thing my Dad will let me get that's name brand, so.”  
Uma turned to the boys, “Wait, are you saying that you're lips were virgin to the taste of Cheez-Its or that you, yourself were a virgin.”  
Harry scoffed, “No, I was saying that my lips were virgin to the taste of Cheez-Its. I pulled all types of birds back in Scotland. Y’all just don't have the appreciation for such a ruggedly handsome face.”  
Uma put her hands up in a 'stop’ motion, “First of all, never, ever say 'y’all’ again that sounded so weird in your accent. Second of all, Scotland is just a bunch of pale white people so your country’s standards are much lower.”  
Harry put his hand to his chest in mock hurt, “Uma, are you saying that I’m a pale white person?” Uma rolled her eyes as Harry leaned back in the seat, groaning loudly. He jolted back up and held one finger out, “Actually! There was one black person in my class in secondary one. Her name was Angela and she and I kissed at the school dance.”  
Gil’s eyes widened, “You’re so…” He shook his head back and forth.  
Uma nodded in agreement, “Wig. Yeah, he really is.” They continued talking but slowly, their voices faded out as Uma started looking out of the window. They were getting ready to pass Auradon High and almost the entire bus grew silent to stare in envy and awe at the beautiful school. And again, Uma felt her mind go back to those four kids that were chosen to go. It was completely unfair to choose only four kids and deprive the other thousand at Uma's school of a good education. Not that kids that went to John Gilliam couldn't go on to do great things. There definitely were some and they were used as poster children for the school to show that they did create successful kids and not just future convicts. Thing is, their parents shelled out thousands of dollars for a much more useful college degree from Harvard and that's how most of those poster children went on to become doctors and whatnot. Uma's mom, on the other hand, may not have enough money to last until the end of this week, let alone college. Of course, it depended on how much of the restaurant’s earnings she was using to keep her boyfriend out of jail and a steady stream of coke to her nose. The bitterness in Uma bubbled up again. They passed by the school in all of its glory. None of the students there were up yet because of the different start times. Uma sighed and turned her head away from the window to pay attention to her friends.  
School passed by in a blur, Uma barely paid attention for half of the day. The trio walked off of the bus, Harry and Uma waved ‘bye’ to Gil when he walked in the opposite direction towards his house. They walked in silence for the walk, Harry catching Uma’s eye and smirking a bit.  
“What’s so funny?” Uma asked, nervously laughing.  
“Nothing. Everything. I don’t know,” Harry chuckled again. They continued walking until they reached Harry’s house, the keys jangled as he fit them into the lock. Uma walked into the house as Harry held the door open, closing it behind himself. Uma started to walk towards the couch, stopping when she heard a noise. She knitted her eyebrows and looked back at Harry to see his face twisting in confusion.  
“Do you hear-” Uma started, before Harry rushed past her, banging on a door at the end of the hallway.  
“Dad!” He yelled out, jiggling the door handle, “What the fuck?!” The door was opened from the other side and Harry held it open as his dad, James, walked out, pulling his jeans back up around his waist. A woman with only a sheet wrapped around her walked out past him, shooting a look at Harry. James walked over to the coffee table where unlit cigarettes were strewn across. He grabbed a match and lit it, inhaling and exhaling before turning to his son.  
“What’s your problem?” He drawled in an accent much thicker than his son’s.  
“You’re my problem. What the hell, I thought you were supposed to be out!”  
“And I’m not, so what?”  
“You couldn’t have bothered to fuck her anywhere else?”  
James chuckled creepily. “I’m going to the store. You need anything? Uma?” Uma shook her head, “No, thank you.”  
“Amy?” The girl in the sheet shook her head as well. James grabbed keys from the table beside the door and walked out, either forgetting to put on a shirt or not caring to. After a few moments, Amy sat down, letting go of the sheet so that it fell around her waist. Uma looked away hastily and saw Harry do the same. They could hear her grab a cigarette and fumble with a lighter before throwing it back down on the coffee table.  
“How old are you guys?” She asked after a moment.  
“Sixteen,” Harry responded, eyes still turned away.  
She laughed with the cigarette between her teeth, “I had my first at sixteen. It was exciting and ‘dangerous’ back then, now guys will hump anything that moves. Isn’t that right?” She directed the question at Uma. Uma swallowed thickly, reaching out and squeezing Harry’s hand as a signal to leave. Harry nodded, grabbing the keys he had dropped and led them out of the house. They never bothered to answer her question. The pair walked in silence, in the direction of Uma’s house.  
“Are you oka-”  
“No.”  
“Are you going to-”  
“Maybe.”  
“Do you want to sleep over at my house?”  
Harry clicked his tongue, “Not particularly?”  
Uma thought about it before shaking her head vigorously in agreement, “Yeah, yeah. That’s probably not the best idea...You want to go over to Gil’s?”  
“Sure.”  
Uma looked at the sidewalk, holding her breath as she reached out to grab her best friend by the hand. He took it and squeezed it tightly. It was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I made Harry refer to women as "birds" it's so overused in fics, I know. I really don't know if I should continue or not asdfghjkl. Okay, yeah! Hope you enjoyed whatever that was! Be sure to like comment and subscribe and tap that bell icon to be notified everytime I post a new video..  
> Title from Frank Ocean's Ivy because I live for Aesthetic song lyrics


	2. Eyes Are but a Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang plays Mario Cart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for homophobic language, depressive spirals and google translated french. If you want to skip that, stop reading at "Junior stopped in his tracks" and pick up at "Harry saw the other boy's movement" yee enjoy.

Gil’s house was further out than most kids that went to John Gilliam, almost edging into white, suburban territory. And in some ways, the house looked kind of nice. There was a car sitting in the driveway and Uma recognized it as one of Gil’s older brother’s. Per usual, their dad wasn’t at home so Uma walked with confidence up the porch and knocked twice. Almost immediately, the door flew open to reveal the smiling face of Gil.  
“Hey,” he said brightly, standing in front of the door to prevent his dog from running out. Gil stepped to the side and Harry immediately brushed past Uma to pet the bouncing rottweiler. He dropped to the floor and the dog wagged its tail dangerously, attempting to lick the boy’s face.  
“Eliana!” Gil called, causing the dog to whip her head around and run up the stairs past Gil and Uma. They all followed suit after her, Harry and Uma stepping over permanent piles of clothes and trash instinctively. They all headed into Gil’s room which was, surprisingly, the cleanest room in the house. Eliana jumped on the bed, twirling around before lying down. Harry turned the TV and console on, tossing the other two controllers that sat on top of the dresser. Uma collapsed on the bed, pushing Eliana away from her face as Harry and Gil plopped on the ground.   
“I’ve been practicing, y’know. I’ve gotten really good at it and I think I may finally be able to beat you guys.” Gil said as the screen flickered to life.  
“Hmm,” Uma hummed disbelievingly “Did you do the math homework? I need the answers or Miller's going to give me lunch detention again.”  
“Aw, hey. Come on, Uma. I really think I’ve gotten better!”  
“Aye!” Harry jumped up “Bet! Let’s make a bet. If Gil wins, Uma you have to do his homework and if Uma wins then you get his answers.”  
Gil's face lit up but Uma still looked unamused. “So if I lose I don't get the homework answers today and on top of that, I have to do his homework tomorrow? Seems unfair. And what happens if you win?”  
Harry shrugged “I’ll come up with something. ”  
The two boys turned back to the screen, already starting to choose their characters.  
Uma continued to mumble uselessly about how unfair the deal was.  
It was close, extremely close. But, Harry turned around in the end and won. He leaped up off of the bed as the results rolled on to the screen, showing his name in first place. Eliana jumped up with him and started wagging her tail.  
“Ha! Look at that, bastards! Look at that 'one’ right by my name! Look at-”  
The door to Gil's room swung open and the three teens looked to the door. Almost taking up the entire door frame was one of Gil's older brothers, Junior.  
“What are you yelling about in here?”  
Gil nervously sat up on his bed, “We’re playing Mario Cart, that's it.” He laughed and pointed to the screen “Harry just won.”  
“It’s not like it’s that hard to beat you. In fact, I bet I could beat every single one of you.” He started to head out the door before calling over his shoulder “Oh hey, I’m leaving tonight and Dad's not going to be here so you gotta do chores for the next few days.” Gil rolled his eyes calling out, “Where is everyone else going to be then?”  
“None of your business.”  
The comment obviously got Gil heated as he spoke up, fire in his voice. “Would it kill you guys to maybe, I don't know, be responsible for once?”  
Junior stopped in his tracks, slowly turning back around to the door. “The fuck did you just say?” Gil swallowed, too afraid to say anything else. Uma tensed up and placed a hand on her friend’s arm. Harry glanced between Junior and Gil, ready to step in if things went too far. Junior stepped into the room and stopped a foot away from the bed. “You're lucky to even be living with us, Gil. You're lucky we let you stay here. If it weren't for me, Dad would've tossed your pédé ass on the street already. Do you know how many beatings I’ve endured from him to save your ass? You know what? Va te faire enculer.” He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry flinched in his spot before quickly turning to his best friend. Gil sat in stunned silence and Uma’s hand got tighter on his arm. “Are you okay?” She asked softly.  
“Sometimes I think it's my fault. Dad never wanted me and I act so ungrateful sometimes. I never thank my brothers for driving me places. I never thank them for getting me birthday cakes or presents or cards. I never thank my father for providing because he could be a whole lot worse than he is. At least he isn't beating me, at least he leaves me alone. But he's been beating Junior all this time and I never thanked him for protecting me. I feel like such a burden-” tears started streaming down his face and his voice grew hoarse “I feel like a burden to you guys sometimes because-” “Gil.” Uma interrupted, voice harsher than intended. Gil flinched at her tone and Uma's chest immediately started aching. Harry saw the other boy's movement and sat on the bed with them. He grabbed Gil's head and pulled it to his chest, causing Gil to cry even more. They rocked together in that position, Eliana joining them, until the sun had set and Gil was out of tears. Uma sat watching them, unable to move for fear of causing Gil to flinch again. Her chest ached deeply, she was never good at comforting people. But, all the times she had ever insulted or made her friend feel bad started replaying in her head and she couldn't take it anymore. The guilt was overwhelming. She should have been helping him, not hurting him. But she was, and she didn't know how to fix any of that damage. Eventually, Gil fell asleep and Uma had to go back home or she’d have to sit through another lecture from her mom. She walked out of the room, quietly closing it behind her and hurriedly walked to the front door. It was dark out and she desperately didn't want to go home. Uma had barely reached the mailbox when a voice called out after her.  
“Hey!” She whipped her head around to see Harry standing in the front door, closing it, and sprinting towards her.  
“Hey” he repeated after catching up to her. “You okay?”  
Uma shook her head, ignoring his question. “I have to go back before my mom calls me. Are you going back home?”  
Harry licked his lips, Uma could tell he was trying to decide whether he should press her or let it go. He caved “No, I’m probably going to stay with Gil and make sure he's okay for tonight. You could call your mom and ask if you could stay here?”  
Uma shook her head “No, she doesn't like you two very much. Besides, I think Gil would prefer it if it was just you guys.” Tears started stinging the back of her eyes.  
Harry's eyebrows knitted in concern, “Uma? Are you sure you’re okay?”  
The tears were messing up her vision now, Harry was just a colorful blob “Yeah.” She turned away from him, walking to her house. “Bye, Harry.”  
It was a moment before he responded. “Bye, Uma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if that french looked clunky or awkward I tried. i actually have an idea of where i want this to go but for now it's just going to be set up and stuff. i hope it's good lmao. thanks for reading!!


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